(A/N: hey lmao)
"So, is the plan just for me to stay up here all day?" Ritsu asked, the bright morning sun illuminating the kitchen as the two sat together. He would have preferred to sleep through these early hours, especially since he had trouble resting the previous night with all the sudden insanity, but he was unfortunately awake.
"Yes. Unless you can come up with something better." Masamune said.
"You won't have any problem handling the customers?"
"I may have gotten a bit spoiled over these past couple weeks with you taking care of all the customer service, but I did successfully run this store without you before, I can do it again." He reminded him. "Though, it certainly will be a lot less fun without you around to mess with." He admitted.
Ritsu rolled his eyes. "You're so mean." He complained.
Masamune merely chuckled. "Yes, yes, I'm the absolute worst, as you like to so often remind me." He said before sighing. "You're sure you don't want me to just stay closed for the day?" He asked.
"No, it's fine. The shop will be closed for the weekend come tomorrow, anyways. If you closed today then it may make Nao and An even more suspicious." Ritsu said. "We can use this weekend to come up with a better plan than me just sitting here and waiting."
"Have you considered maybe talking to them?" Masamune asked.
Ritsu frowned at the suggestion. "I...I can't do that."
"You can't or you won't?"
"Isn't that the same thing?" Ritsu asked. "They're-they're unpredictable! I have no idea what they might do if-"
"They're your friends, aren't they? Who knows if they'd do anything." Masamune said. "They might just genuinely be worried about you, spell or no spell. What, do you think they'll try to hurt you?"
"I don't know." Ritsu said. "I don't know what they're willing to do in order to get me to come back home. I'm sure that's what they want. That or something equally ridiculous like marriage. An's been under the impression that we'll be wed for a long time now, even before the spell." He sighed.
"Why does she think that? Were you two together?" Masamune asked curiously, feeling a strange swirl of something sick and angry in his stomach, but his stoic face didn't let it show.
"Oh, no, nothing like that." Ritsu said. "I suppose there's no harm in telling you the entire story of why I was cursed. You already know most of it, anyway." He sighed. His plan of keeping this part of his life private was completely gone now, after all, especially with the remnants of his past now in town. "When I was a teenager, my parents set up an arranged marriage between An and I. Well, it was more so that An's mother demanded it and they complied. I tried to convince my mother not to make me go through with it, but she wouldn't listen and so An's mother was my last chance at dissolving the engagement. An's mother was...not happy with me, to say the least. I told her that I could not marry An because I didn't love her. So, she cursed me to have nothing but love, that is, except from the one I'd want it from most...but you already knew that last part."
"Mm." Masamune hummed in response. "Did you ever try to talk to An?"
"Looking back now, I wish I had. If anyone would have listened to me and taken my feelings into consideration, it would have been An, but I was too much of a coward. I didn't want to see the hurt in her face when I told her I didn't want to marry her." Ritsu said.
"And now?"
"What do you mean 'now'? She's under the stupid spell now, it wouldn't matter what I say."
"You don't know that for sure." Masamune said. "If she loved you before, who's to say she'd even be affected by the spell?"
"She's been following me for years. That seems like the result of an intense love spell."
"Or just intense love." Masamune said.
"No. I know An, if she wasn't under the spell then she would have understood why I left and accepted it."
"You knew An. It's been a long time since you last saw her. Things change, people change."
"You're right. Things do change. Things did change. And they can never be the same again. A simple chat with two strangers who used to be my friends isn't going to fix anything. Takano-san, I know you are trying to be helpful, but please don't act as though you know more about the spell and its effects than I do. This has been a part of your life for a couple weeks. This has been my whole life for nearly eight years." Ritsu looked away, crossing his arms.
"I'm sorry." Masamune said. "It wasn't my intention to upset you. I may not know everything this spell has done to your life or your loved ones, but I like to think I know at least a little bit about you, Ritsu, and I can't help but wonder what it is that you're truly afraid of."
Ritsu frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Are you honestly afraid of what those two might do? Or are you afraid of how seeing them will make you feel?" Masamune asked.
"You should be opening the shop soon." Ritsu said, attempting to squash the current topic. "You should go downstairs."
"Since when are you the boss, huh?" He asked, trying to joke around a little. Ritsu did not appear amused. Masamune sighed and stood. "Fine. And what do you want me to do if An and Nao come in asking for you again?"
"The same thing you did last night: act like you have no idea what they're talking about."
Masamune nodded. "Make yourself at home in the meantime, I'll be back up in a few hours." He said before leaving.
Ritsu slowly relaxed in his chair as he let out a breath, putting his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. Talk to An and Nao? How was he ever supposed to do that? How could he possibly come face to face with the two people whom he abandoned? Plus, he couldn't be sure about what extremes they would go to in order to get him back into their lives! He slowly stood and went to the nearest window, peeking down at the street, spotting a few faces he was starting to become familiar with after spending time in the town. A frown found its way to his face as he thought to himself:
He'd have to say goodbye to it soon.
It was unsurprising that it only took a few minutes after Masamune opened the store for An and Nao to come in.
"Good morning." An greeted with a smile.
Masamune merely looked up from his book with a stone face.
"Ah, um, well, let us start with apologizing again about last night." She said. "We are very, very sorry about the way we behaved, right Nao?"
"Right. Our deepest apologies." Nao grumbled, not even attempting to hide his ingenuity.
"If I say I forgive you will you two leave?" Masamune asked.
"Well, we were actually hoping to have a proper conversation with you. We never got your name either. Again, so sorry for our rudeness." An said.
Masamune sighed. "Takano Masamune."
An smiled. "It's nice to properly meet you, Takano-san. I'm Kohinata An and this is Kiyomiya Nao. Now that everyone's introduced, maybe we can finally talk."
"What about?" He asked as he set his book aside. Masamune's feigned ignorance irked Nao, but he did his best not to show it.
"About our friend: Onodera Ritsu." Nao said. "Is he here?"
"I already told you last night that he does not work here. You're wasting your time." Masamune said.
"Takano-san, multiple people have told us that he does work here. That, as well as my own...intuition tells me he's here." An said. "And my intuition has never been wrong before."
Masamune scoffed. "Intuition? What kind of nonsense is that? Your 'intuition' has failed you. Now if you're done taking up space and air that is normally reserved for customers, then I'm going to ask you to leave."
"I know Ritsu is upstairs." An said.
Masamune frowned. "Okay, now I'm not asking you to leave, I'm telling you to leave."
"If he's not upstairs then can we have a look around?" Nao asked.
"Absolutely not. That's my home and I won't have two strangers poking around up there for no good reason. I'm sick of being interrogated like this, now get out." Masamune said. Even under normal circumstances he wouldn't let two random people head upstairs and he certainly wasn't going to make an exception for these two.
"We're not going to leave this town until we see Ritsu. We just want to talk to him and make sure he's safe." An said. "If you could tell him that and try to convince him to come and speak with us, we would greatly appreciate it. But, we have waited and traveled for this long to finally find him. We're not going to be easily deterred now."
"You can't keep Ritsu to yourself." Nao added, crossing his arms.
Masamune raised an eyebrow. "Keep him to myself?" He echoed.
"Takano-san, it's no secret that everyone who meets Ritsu falls for his charms. The people who we've talked to here who've met him are the same way." An said. "And it isn't...completely unlikely that some people who are in love with him would go to certain extremes."
"Are you suggesting I'm in love with your friend?" Masamune asked. "And that I've kidnapped him?"
"Well, yes, everyone's in love with him." An said with a slight frown. "Aren't you?" She asked. "As for that second part, well...we cannot be entirely sure yet."
"If you think I'm keeping your friend here against his will because I'm in love with him then your idea of love is seriously warped." Masamune said. "Trying to force someone to love you back or be with you isn't love. It's just plain selfishness. It's cruel and unfair." He crossed his arms as he stared them down. "Though, you two wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"Takano-san, with all due respect-"
"Have either of you even considered the fact that the reason you haven't found this man is because he doesn't want to be found?" Masamune asked. "Or were you two busy fantasizing about happily ever after to stop and care?"
"He just-he doesn't understand our feelings for him-if we can show him that we really do love him-" Nao tried to explain.
"I don't think either of you understand his feelings either." Masamune said. "So, if you two want to keep this altered perception of reality and not have it completely crushed, I would suggest you leave before you realize you have been completely and totally wrong for several years."
"Let us talk to Ritsu." Nao said with a frown.
"If he wanted to talk to you, he would have done so already. I think it's about time you two gave up."
"Let us talk to Ritsu." Nao repeated, firmer.
"Aren't you two tired?" Masamune asked. "How can you keep going on like this? Why do you even want to?"
"Because we love him!" An exclaimed. Despite her attempt to stay calm and patient to avoid conflict, the more Masamune spoke the more upset she was getting.
"If you loved him you would try to understand why it hurts him to see you two."
"It's just a misunderstanding." An insisted.
Masamune sighed. "I'm sick of talking to you two. We're just talking in circles at this point. Your friend isn't here. So get out."
"We aren't giving up so easily, Takano-san. If you won't let us up there, then we'll be waiting for Ritsu to come down here." An said.
"Then at least buy something. And try to stay out of the way." Masamune said before opening his book once more to show that he was quite done with this conversation.
"Fine. We'll be browsing then." An said, disappearing into the bookshelves alongside Nao.
Masamune let out a sigh. This was going to be a long day.
Customers came in and out, some asking about Ritsu, which always made Nao and An perk up. Others left after not spotting the brunette and some merely conducted their business without bringing Ritsu up. Masamune handled it all on his own just fine, but he was getting particularly tired of the two who wouldn't stop lingering.
Are they going to be here till closing? Masamune wondered. He certainly hoped not. He didn't need these two stalkers scaring off potential customers. Not to mention the more pressing matter of their presence making Ritsu upset.
Eventually it began to get later in the afternoon and Masamune was both irritated and hungry. He went to An and Nao with a frown.
"Listen, I want to take a lunch break and I can't do that with you two still here." He said.
"Why don't you let us buy you lunch? It's the least we can do after causing you so much trouble." An was going to kill this man with kindness.
"Absolutely not. I want to be able to have a moment of peace. So if you two will kindly get the hell out." Masamune said.
"You always treat customers this way?" Nao grumbled as he and An were ushered out.
"You two aren't customers, you're pains in my ass. Find someone else to harass about your missing friend for a while." Masamune said, locking the door once they were finally out.
Jesus Christ. I hope they leave town soon.
Masamune went back upstairs, planning on making himself and Ritsu something simple to eat since he was sure Ritsu hadn't dared to help himself.
"You know, your friends are really annoying." Masamune said as he found Ritsu in the living room, pacing around anxiously.
"I guess they came back today?"
"They did. Right when I opened and they only just now left." Masamune said. "You're sure you don't just want to try to talk to them?"
"What good will that do?"
"I don't know, but it'll probably do more good than you hiding will do."
"Is this how every conversation of ours is gonna go now?" Ritsu sighed, already tired of it.
Masamune frowned. "Sorry." He said. He didn't want to add to Ritsu's stress, but he couldn't see this issue resolving itself. Ritsu would eventually have to talk to them. "Have you eaten lunch, yet?"
Ritsu shook his head. "No." He said.
"I figured as much. I'll make something." Masamune really didn't mind cooking for two. In fact, he quite enjoyed sharing their meals. He went into the kitchen, Ritsu hesitantly trailing behind.
"If I'm gonna stay here until Nao and An leave I feel like I should at least help you cook." He said.
"Don't worry about it. I'll just dock it out of your pay."
"Okay."
Masamune rolled his eyes. "I was joking. And you shouldn't be so willing to part with your hard earned money."
Ritsu pouted and sat down at the table. His money certainly didn't feel hard earned. Especially since he couldn't even work right now.
Masamune glanced over at him, noticing the less than happy expression. He sighed and turned to face him properly. "You can help on one condition."
Ritsu perked up a bit, curious. "Okay, what is it?"
"If you can guarantee that you won't hurt yourself then you can help me." Masamune said.
"That's it?" Ritsu said before huffing. "Do you really think I'm that helpless?"
Masamune shrugged. "Can you guarantee that or not? I'll take your word for it."
Ritsu opened his mouth to say yes on instinct, but hesitated. He was quite clumsy at times and got distracted by Masamune easily, especially if the two of them would be side by side. "Um…"
"There's your answer."
"Stop smiling! You think it's funny, don't you?" Ritsu accused.
"Just a little bit." Masamune turned back to fully focus on the food, a smile still tugging at the corner of his lips.
Ritsu watched him as he moved fluidly through the kitchen. He was glad that things hadn't seemed to change too much between them after Masamune put the pieces together of the spell. At least, nothing was outwardly different. But, maybe Masamune was just being polite. Or felt pity for Ritsu, so he was putting up with the weirdness of it all. Though, Masamune didn't seem like the type to be so generous and let a magicked-up weirdo stay in his home like this because of pity.
Maybe he wanted Ritsu to be indebted to him. Ritsu could get anything he wanted after all and could then reward Masamune with whatever others gave him. But, Ritsu couldn't imagine Masamune taking advantage of someone's misfortune like that.
Maybe it was the mysticism of it all that intrigued Masamune. He had told Ritsu before that this town was pretty boring after all, so maybe he was looking for some sort of adventure and thought that Ritsu could be a stepping stone to some grand magical mission.
Maybe he just cares about me.
Ritsu blushed slightly at the thought and quickly dismissed it before he could dive deeper into what 'care' really meant.
He couldn't let himself indulge in such silly thoughts. It would only make leaving hurt more.
"Here." Masamune set two plates of food on the table before raising an eyebrow at Ritsu. "You okay? You were staring at me and zoning out pretty hard."
"I-I wasn't staring at you!" Ritsu denied.
"Not my main concern." Masamune said, sitting across from him. "Seriously, are you alright? A lot has happened in a short amount of time."
"I'm fine. As fine as I can be, anyway." Ritsu said, not touching his food yet.
"We're gonna figure this out." Masamune assured. "So don't stress yourself over it too much. And eat."
Ritsu wasn't very hungry, but he thanked Masamune for the meal and ate regardless, not wanting to be rude. Plus, anxiety probably burned calories.
They ate mostly in silence, but Ritsu still was plagued by the question of why. Why was Masamune so nice to him? Especially when things were bound to get worse.
Ritsu, not brave enough to ask, watched as Masamune went back downstairs after their meal.
I'm on the second story, but it's not that high up… Ritsu thought to himself as he stared out a window. He had gotten out of worse situations before. He could shimmy down during the night and Ritsu could make a break for it.
And Takano-san's life can go back to normal.